Taking A Chance
by Sand Petals
Summary: Reuniting with an old friend is all the pink haired girl had intended to do, but she ends up encountering an ex as well. Old feelings become known, new friends are made, and enemies are brought up. Time will only tell what will happen. M for language and some content.
1. Chapter 1: Reuniting

_'Where am I supposed to turn?'_ The pinkette frowned in frustration as another sigh ripped through her lips. She was looking at her GPS at the dashboard and looking up at the signs that laid ahead. One stuck out the most to her with large yellow text "Suna 2 miles" and below that it showed a large white arrow pointing to her left. This made Sakura smile as she continued down the road for 2 miles and made the turn, watching as the once highway scenery turned into a desert. Sure Suna wasn't as great with scenery as Konoha was to her. But they had some trees here and there, specifically palm trees. Suna was known for having a lot of tourists this time of year for the beach and flowers. Sakura pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed her light pink phone, scrolling to find the message her blonde haired friend had sent her.

_Sakura,_

_You should come to Suna for a few weeks, I really miss you and want you to meet your nephew._

_Plus, I know they're working the hell out of you back in Konoha._

_- Ino._

Going over this message made the green-eyed girl smile as she thought about reuniting with her childhood best friend. Ino was the first friend Sakura made in middle school when she first moved to Konoha. All the other girls made fun of her for her forehead, but Ino didn't. Ino stood up for her and gave her a red ribbon to tie back her bangs. She gave Sakura the confidence to be her own person. They were very close once high school came around, even crushing on the same boy, Sasuke Uchiha. That's when their friendship made a turn for the worst and they became love rivals. That all came to a bitter end for them when Sasuke left Konoha and insulted them in the process. After that the girls just laughed about how stupid they were for fighting over him and they became even closer friends than before. Ino was the sister Sakura never had. It was heartbreaking for Sakura when Ino decided to go to college in Suna. When she departed with Ino, they both were crying with smiles on their faces and they told each other that it wasn't goodbye.

* * *

**_"I refuse to say goodbye, Sakura. I'll just see you around later." _**_Ino chimed in while letting some tears stain her cheeks, she smiled to reassure her friend._

**_"I'm going to miss you." _**_Sakura broke down a little and cried into their hug, but she smiled regardless._**_ "But I know you're going to become something great."_**

**_"This will be another fun competition for us. When we meet up again, let's prove that we've become something great together." _**_I__no smiled. They both stood at the airport for moments more before the intercom interrupted their conversation, letting Ino know that it was time for her to go. Sakura cried once Ino was out of sight, waving sadly as she rounded the corner to enter the plane._

**_"We'll become something great." _**_Sakura mumbled to herself before leaving the airport._

* * *

That's when the flashback ended for Sakura, she continued to her long trip as her body slacked a little behind the wheel, reminding her just how long she's been driving and it's almost over. The trip to Suna was a 2 day car trip. Entering one of the residential areas in Suna, Sakura drove a little slower and looked for the street name that Ino had given her. Sure enough, a little ways down the road was the street. Finding her house was easy considering Kankuro was outside working on their car.

"Yo, Kankuro." Sakura greeted the greasy man as he got out from under the car and flashed her a side smirk, similar to his older sister's.

"Hey, Sakura. Long time no see." Kankuro said, getting up and wiping the oil and grease off his hands with a cleaning rag.

"It sure has been." Sakura sighed out and smiled back, looking at their house. It was a simple yet beautiful 2 story house. The house was white with light purple window shudders, a porch that wrapped around half of the house, a small porch swing was by the side of the house as well as a decent sized pool in the backyard. Sakura's aweing came to a halt when she saw a long blonde haired woman throw the front door open and come running at her, before Sakura could react she was tackled into a hug and nearly fell over.

"Forehead!" the blonde hugged onto the struggling friend tightly, from Kankuro's perspective it looked like she was going to break the girl in half.

"Ino.. Can't… breathe." Sakura managed to mutter out as she tried to wiggle out of the death grip.

"Oh sorry." Ino's laugh was cut short as she looked at her friend and a million questions came to mind. Sakura felt that it was too hot outside to discuss everything, she'd melt before she would be able to do much else. Ino grabbed the friend's hand and pulled her into the beautiful house for some cookies and tea.

"Must have been a long trip if you drove here." The light voice drifted from the kitchen to the pinkette's ears, she was looking around the living room at the pictures and furniture. It's been a while since they've seen each other, Sakura couldn't believe Ino ended up with Kankuro. Kankuro was by no means a bad guy, but when Sakura first encountered him with his siblings at school they were not friendly to her and Naruto at all. Kankuro even picked on one of the middle schoolers in front of them, saying that Naruto and Sakura couldn't do anything since they thought they were weak. That's when Sasuke and Gaara stepped in. Sakura shivered a little at the thought of how cold the trio were to her and her friends. It wasn't until junior year that they made amends with the trio and became rather close friends. Sakura was fonder of the blonde haired sister of the group. Ino, Sakura, and Temari loved to hang out during breaks and after school during their senior year. What bugged Sakura is that at the time Ino had been dating Kiba and Temari was dating Shikamaru, they'd always be talking about their boyfriends while Sakura was still pining over the raven haired boy, whom never returned her feelings. She did finally work up the nerve to date someone while in college, but… it was short lived. It still hurt.

Sakura's hand glided over the marble top of a fireplace Ino had in the living room before the blonde interrupted Sakura's thoughts with refreshments and beginning the stories they both eagerly wanted to talk about. After all these years of being separated. It's not like they never talked to each other, they texted each other quite often. It's just different when you're actually there with that person, it makes the stories all the better and they can have more details now since they don't have to type it out to one another.

"I became head nurse at the hospital here. My schedule gets pretty bad sometimes since I'm in charge of the other nurses, but they know I have a two year old at home so I get two days off a week and I get off early sometimes. You should see Kei, he loves running around now and grabbing anything within his grasp." The blonde kept on listing off things that go on in her life, Sakura smiled the whole time, contently listening.

"Hey, Ino." Kankuro began to interrupt the overly excited blonde who frowned and turned towards him.

"What?" she snapped, she really wanted to continue telling her stories to Sakura, who finally took this break to gulp down some of the tea they poured for her.

"Gaara needs some help back at the office, so I'll be gone for a bit." Kankuro informed her before grabbing his keys off the table and leaving the blonde with a small kiss to her cheek. "Hope she doesn't talk you into a coma, she has a tendency to babble on." He aimed his statement to Sakura. Sakura giggled lightly as Ino smacked Kankuro's arm.

"Just go help your brother before I kill you." Ino looked back to Sakura and began talking again. Once Kankuro locked the door behind him, the two girls could hear the soft hum of the car's engine before it sped out of the driveway. His impatient driving skills haven't changed one bit. Ino just kept dragging on about her times here in Suna and as much as Sakura wanted to listen to the stories that she awaited to hear, she couldn't quite focus much on the blonde, but rather on the name that Kankuro mentioned before his departure.

_Gaara._

The redhead younger brother of Kankuro. This is what Sakura was afraid of. She somehow knew, dreadfully, on her way here that the redhead would still be living In Suna. She wanted to believe that he made some spontaneous decision to leave Suna and move somewhere else with the one girl she knew she didn't want to see either. After all that happened, she wanted to come here to see Ino and not even hear about the infamous redhead. To no avail, Sakura's mind would not push aside the thoughts… no… the memories of the times her and Gaara had together. Ino, of course, knew that the redhead and Sakura had at one point been together, her goofy husband told her about the relationship Gaara and Sakura once had. Sakura was rather surprised that Kankuro even made an effort to be nice to her when she got here, she would've thought that Gaara's siblings would hate her. Unless of course the redhead didn't care about Sakura leaving. Did he even see how hurt she was? After what she saw? After those two years of being together? He certainly didn't stop her when she got in her car and booked it. Maybe he wanted her to leave and waited for the perfect moment.

"Sa-ku-ra, are you even listening to me right now?" Ino's annoyed tone brought Sakura out of her thoughts and to the pouting face of her best friend.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm just tired from the trip." Sakura lied and smiled to her friend, she knew the blonde didn't believe it was nothing, but she didn't bother to pry into her pink haired friend's business. The blonde knew if Sakura had something to share, she'd spill it.

"Alright. I told Kei he could help me make dinner tonight. It shouldn't really be done for 2 hours. How about I show you to the guest room and you can take a nap, if that'd make you feel better." Ino offered, grabbing her friend's hand and bringing her to her feet. Only to be faced with a smile. Ino had been so sweet and caring towards her, Sakura was definitely glad to know their rivalry from their earlier years was gone and they could be close friends.

"That sounds nice." Sakura confessed, thinking that the nap would help push those invading thoughts of a certain someone's piercing eyes. A nap could help get her mind off of it. Scratch that, off of him.

* * *

** Back at Gaara's office. **

* * *

"You know Kei's getting pretty good with running around now. He still trips every now and then, but me and Ino can't seem to get the brat to settle down." Kankuro's steady laugh filled the once quiet office as he finished filing the last of the paperwork.

"Sounds like a handful." The younger brother didn't bother to lift his gaze to the brunette, but rather turned off his laptop and packed it into the awaiting computer bag.

"He is. But, he's not being nearly as bratty today since 'auntie's' visiting." Kankuro rolled his eyes, before his mouth clamped shut. Did Gaara know who he meant by auntie? Oh if he found out it was Sakura…

"Temari's bullying your child? That's a new low for her." Gaara couldn't hide the smirk that made its way along his usual stoic composure.

"Pssh. I wouldn't let her bully my child, 'kay?" Kankuro's defensive tone soon faltered as he chuckled, staring back at his brother. Gaara merely shrugged and got up, ready to call it a night.

"Thanks for helping me with the files, Temari decided to take the day off." Gaara rolled his eyes at the memory of Temari walking in this morning and saying she was spending the day with the daydreaming boy from Konoha, Shikamaru.

"A Shikamaru day again, I take it?" Kankuro lightly poked at his brother, Gaara would usually shoot a death glare at anybody who dared touch him, but it was Kankuro. Gaara just sighed and nodded. Opening the door to his office while all the lights were being turned off. He couldn't wait to just get home and sleep. Or so he thought he'd be getting home.

"You should stop by for dinner. I know Kei would love to see you and besides, you might find the house a little different." Kankuro was conflicted as soon as those words left his mouth. He knew if Gaara saw Sakura it'd turn the innocent offer into something different. Yet, the curious brunette wondered how exactly Gaara would react to the pinkette's visit. He hoped it wouldn't turn violent by any means. Kankuro didn't plan it to be mean towards any party, he just let the curiosity get the best of him. Who knows Gaara could still turn it down.

"Alright. I could stop by for a bit." The redhead's smooth voice caused Kankuro to rub the back of his head uncomfortably as both of them turned towards their own cars in the emptying parking lot.

"Cool, Ino should already have dinner going." Kankuro laughed uncomfortably which caused the redhead to raise an eyebrow at his reaction, but they both got into their cars regardless and made their way to Kankuro's house.


	2. Chapter 2: What She Doesn't Know

"Sweetie, I'm home." Kankuro greeted the waiting woman who stepped out of the kitchen in her lavender apron with a small stumbling Kei. Kei smiled and ran into the legs of his father, who lightly leaned down and ruffled the child's hair. "Daddy missed you Kei."

"Well look who finally got home!" Ino teased before her smile dropped and she saw who else walked in. Ino's blue eyes flashed to Kankuro, he saw that she was about to explode with questions. "What's he doing here when –" she was cut off by Kankuro's hand. Kankuro laughed nervously, the redhead next to him glared in their direction and tapped his foot lightly, showing signs that he was becoming annoyed.

"Aha, well. Ino remember, I said I was going to try to get Gaara to visit Kei? Since he's been wanting to see him all week." Kankuro lied, giving the blonde a let's-talk-about-this-in-another-room kind of look only they were familiar with. Ino nodded and removed his hand from her mouth.

"Sorry for the weird behavior. I'm just surprised you showed up, but it's good nonetheless. You could say that you're Kei's favorite." She beamed. She knew she'd have to come up with a lie to get Kankuro to spill his guts in another room. "By the way, the oven's acting weird. Everytime I try to turn it on it doesn't seem to turn on. So I need YOU to look at it." Ino's lie seemed to have gone unnoticed by the redhead who picked up Kei and let the boy lead him to the toys in the living room where Gaara just sat down next to him.

"Alright, Gaara do you mind watching Kei for a minute?" Kankuro turned his head to see Gaara just give him a stare but nod. "'kay then."

Ino grabbed Kankuro's hand and led him to the other side of the house, far from Gaara's hearing range.

"What were you thinking?" she hissed out as she got closer to the brunette and glared him down.

"I don't know! I wasn't thinking at the time, it just slipped out. I didn't think he'd come over." Kankuro tried to explain, but Ino's glare only got heavier as he sighed and watched a worried expression appear on his wife's face.

"When he sees Sakura… I'm not even sure how they're going to react." Ino backed up to lean against the wall and she sighed. She was not expecting Kankuro to just invite Gaara over and the redhead actually show up the same night Sakura's staying over.

"What're we going to do?" Kankuro asked, stepping closer to his wife, his hand rested against her cheek and her previous tension disappeared at the gentle act. When she opened her eyes she sighed.

"We'll have to play it cool. Just act normal and hope they can behave like adults. If they want to argue then we'll ask them to take it outside." Ino nodded and Kankuro did too before pulling his wife into a short sweet kiss. Once they broke apart, Ino smiled up at Kankuro and left back to finish making dinner. Kankuro walked back into the room with Gaara and Kei seated on the floor. Gaara shot Kankuro a blank look before Kankuro shoved his hands in his pockets. If it wasn't for Kei, Gaara probably would have questioned the household's odd behavior. He'd only find out soon enough.

Around 10 minutes later, Ino walked into the living room and shouted loud enough for anyone upstairs to hear "Dinner's ready, everyone!"

"Why are you shouting? We're all in the same room." Gaara's icy stare fell upon that of Ino's who swayed gently to the side and smiled fakely.

"Right. Sorry."

Upstairs, Sakura's eyes opened with a sigh. The nap was too quick for her liking, but she knew she wanted to have dinner. She hadn't eaten since this morning and she could feel her stomach warming up to the idea of food. Straightening out her outfit in the mirror, she decided she was presentable and walked down the stairs, hearing the sound of silverware being moved around as well as plates being set out and the sound of soft chatter. A small smile now graced her features as she entered the room, ready to be greeted by 3 faces, but she wasn't expecting 4. Sakura's smile fell and her lips were pressed together as she stared back at the same eyes that haunted her very being. Those black outlined sea blue eyes. It was like the air was being sucked right out her and she even found it hard to stand. What was he doing here? Why? Sakura wasn't going to make a scene in Ino's house though, so she pretended to ignore the redhead as she took a seat beside Kei's high chair.

Ino looked very uncomfortable, she shifted her weight onto her other foot and still kept at the nice-hostess act. Ino filled their plates with food before walking back to the kitchen to grab the baby's food. Kei giggled with delight as it was presented in front of him. Kei loves spaghetti and he enjoyed breaking up the noodles before Ino put them in the pot to boil them. The table was very quiet other than the sound of silverware being moved and Kei's giggles as he shoved spaghetti into his mouth. Ino decided she didn't want to feel uncomfortable in her own home, so she started conversation.

"So how's work for you Gaara?" she attempted.

"Good." The reply was short and seemed bitter. Ino only frowned and shoved a meatball into her mouth. Kankuro saw how irritated his wife was becoming, so he spoke up next.

"Yeah there's been a lot of business happening lately for the company, sometimes Gaara has to stay extra hours to finish up any documents." Kankuro added, looking towards Gaara who was gnawing on a piece of bread. Gaara was already irritated and another kind of emotion seemed to fill his gaze as Gaara's eyes didn't pry from the pinkette across the table. Kankuro couldn't quite place his finger on it. Sakura knew all too well that he was staring at her, so she directed her attention toward Kei who threw a noodle at her. Sakura looked at the baby and made a silly face, instantly Kei was giggling. She always had a way to make babies happy, it was just something she could always do.

Turning away from the baby, Sakura began eating the spaghetti on her plate and looked down at the food to avoid looking back at Gaara. '_Would he just look away? I really hate when people just stare like that. It's like I can't breathe.'_ Her thoughts made her sigh as she pushed around a meatball on her plate. _'I wish I could just leave the table.'_ Almost on cue, Kei picked up a handful of the spaghetti and threw it on Sakura. Sakura's mouth fell open and she gasped as the spaghetti dripped down from her hair to her shirt. Instinctly, she backed her chair up and stood up, wiping the spaghetti from atop her head. Kei found it amusing and clapped, giggling the whole time. _'Well at least I can excuse myself now.'_ Sakura sighed once more, grabbing the napkin and dabbing her shirt with it. Ino stood up as well and rushed towards Sakura, brushing the noodles off of her and looking concerned.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Kei doesn't normally throw his food." Ino looked like a worried mother and stared at Sakura.

"No, no. It's okay. He's just a baby. I needed to change anyways." Sakura calmed Ino down with a smile. "May I be excused?"

"Of course. Do you need anything, I'll show you to the bathroom." Ino grabbed Sakura's hand and led her out of the dining room and up the stairs. Ino silently knew that Sakura wanted to get out of the room anyways, heck if Ino was getting a stare from a stoic man like that, she'd pour spaghetti on her head and leave too. Gaara made it well known that he noticed her. Poor girl couldn't sneeze without him so much as death glaring her being.

"Are you okay?" Ino asked genuinely from the other side of the door as Sakura was grabbing clothes to change into after her shower. The blonde knew the boys couldn't hear them from downstairs, so talking was safe.

"I'm fine. Just felt like I was a piece of meat in a lion's den." Sakura snorted out, feeling completely angry with how she was treated this evening, by someone who didn't even have to speak. She wasn't mad at Ino and Kankuro, of course. Just the brunette's brother.

Ino looked down at her fidgeting hands and sighed, "I didn't know he was coming over. Kankuro sorta just invited him without thinking. Honestly, I wouldn't put you through that."

Sakura stood still before opening the door and facing the blonde, Sakura let a soft smile form along her lips "I know you didn't do it on purpose." This made Ino sigh in relief and hug the spaghetti stained girl.

"Kei must really like me." Sakura laughed out loud as she hugged Ino back. Both of the girls broke out in a louder laughter than they expected.

"Kei's favorite food is spaghetti, so he must really like you to cover you in it." Ino said between laughs and led the pinkette to the bathroom, towel in hand.

"Probably got it from Kankuro." She teased back, stepping into the bathroom and ready to just shower away her problematic thoughts that betrayed her humorous state of being.

It wasn't until she was enveloped in the hot water pouring down her back that she let the tears fall. She certainly didn't expect to see him at all, especially on her first day here. Why'd he even look at her like that? Like she was some kind of alien sitting at the table. Was he really still holding a grudge? It's been two years… two years since he broke her heart and she left. He had Matsuri now, so why was he even glaring at her like that? Sakura's soft sobs broke out as she clamped a hand over her mouth to stop them. She had to pull it together, she wasn't going to let him break her again. She was not going to cry anymore, like she promised herself. Sakura stopped crying and sighed, knowing the heavy weight on her chest was beginning to pull her down. _'I'll be damned if I let him tear me apart again. He got away with glaring at me for tonight, but if I so much as see him glaring at me again, I'll make sure he'll see to it that he stops.'_ Sakura's brave thought gave her the strength to proudly wash herself off and finish her shower. That shower was doing more than just washing away the spaghetti, it was washing away her insecurities. Once she was drying herself off, she was humming to herself, determined to not let Gaara keep her down. She wasn't here for him, she was here for her best friend. And no icy glare was going to make her run away. Not again.

* * *

**_Gaara's POV_**

* * *

_'What's with them? They're acting weird… well, weirder than usual.'_ He raised his eyebrow once again, staring at Kankuro who smiled uncomfortably. He wanted to ask what was wrong or why they were acting like that. Maybe it was family related though, so he wasn't going to pry. He didn't want to hear a full out life problem anyway, he was sick of everyone going to him for advice and spilling their life events to him. It felt nice to help people but he felt burdened with all the stress. Looking down at the small child that was playing with a red car, he couldn't help but smile. This precious innocence came from his brother and now sister-in-law. The smile faded within a moment though as he thought of his own childhood, how his birth had killed his mother. He was born too soon and something appeared to have gone wrong with his mother at the time, what exactly happened he didn't know and felt that he'd never know. From what he was told she grew very ill once he was actually born and she had to be kept in the hospital for a week longer for recovery.

They said she wasn't in any condition to go home yet with the baby. His father brought him home. Temari and Kankuro were young at the time, but they filled in for the mother's absence and took care of Gaara. One week in the hospital turned to 2 weeks, his father was growing upset and instead of admitting it was a bizarre sickness, he blamed Gaara. Blamed his birth. Within the second week of being in the hospital, his mother passed away. The news was devastating for them.

Gaara didn't notice that his hands were clenching the carpet until Kankuro grabbed his shoulder that was until Ino walked in.

"Dinner's ready, everyone!" Ino bellowed, making Gaara want to slap his hands over his ears. He knew his brother married a loud mouth but this was ridiculous.

"Why are you shouting? We're all in the same room." He sent a glare towards her; he didn't mean to, he was just annoyed by her loud statement.

"Right. Sorry." She apologized and led them to the dining room. As the redhead entered the dining room he saw that the table was set and the bubbly blonde walked back into the kitchen to get the food. Normally, he'd wait but he's already seen how Ino was working hard to prepare dinner, so both he and Kankuro grabbed serving dishes to put them on the table. She was grateful to them and thanked them both before picking up Kei and putting him in his feeding chair.

Just as he was about to sit down, he noticed another person walk into the room. His breathe caught in his throat, his eyes seeing the short pink hair and green eyes. _'Sakura?'_ was the only thought he could manage as he couldn't help but stare at her. She did notice and the smile she walked into the room with fell. She stared back. _'What is she thinking?'_ but with a shake of his head as she walked away to sit down; he brushed his thoughts away. He wasn't going to cause any commotion in his brother's house. They're adults. Gaara sat across from her though. Even so, her hair hasn't change much except for maybe being a little longer.

Gaara's eyes practically devoured her appearance, he knew it was rude to be staring, but he wanted to practically burn her image into his mind. It hurt him, deeply, to admit that he had missed her. Now her curves were more developed as her top gave it away, she was wearing a white sundress. Of course sundresses were normal in Suna since it had tropical weather year round, but he couldn't help but to stare at her even more. He didn't stare at other girls in Suna very often at all.

Gaara's attention was stolen by Ino as she filled their plates with food before walking back to the kitchen. The table was very quiet other than the sound of silverware being moved and Kei's giggles as he shoved spaghetti into his mouth. Ino decided she didn't want to feel uncomfortable in her own home, so she started conversation.

"So how's work for you Gaara?" the blonde dared to ask him as she turned towards him in her chair.

"Good." He replied, looking down to push around the meatballs on his plate. He didn't feel too hungry, his mind was wrapped around the girl sitting across from him too much to care about hunger.

"Yeah there's been a lot of business happening lately for the company, sometimes Gaara has to stay extra hours to finish up any documents." Kankuro tried to strike up conversation as well, this made the redhead start to chew lightly on his garlic bread. He didn't want the couple to think he was going to let the meal go to waste. But once again the pinkette peaked Gaara's attention, he could tell she felt uncomfortable under his gaze, but he couldn't help it. It's been two years, he never received any form of contact from her. He called her phone many times which was always sent to voicemail, he must've left at least a thousand voicemails. Finally someone broke the news to him that she changed her number. When he did go to Konoha to visit Naruto she was always somewhere else. After a year he stopped trying, hoping that maybe one day she'd try to contact him to let him explain what he was always longing to confess and make sure she knew about what really happened.. but she never did, now here she is. Gaara shook his head and looked at her, watching her make funny faces at the baby. This made him smile to himself. '_She was always great with kids.'_

_'I wonder what she's thinking right now? Does she still hate me?'_ Gaara's mental questions were pushed aside as he watched Kei pick up a handful of the spaghetti and throw it on Sakura. He wanted to get up and help clean it off of her, but he knew the close contact would make it awkward and there's no telling how they'd both react. He simply watched. Sakura's mouth fell open and she gasped as the spaghetti dripped down from her hair to her shirt. He watched, almost amused as she backed her chair up and stood up, wiping the spaghetti off of her. He bit down on his lip as Sakura's own lips opened to sigh before she grabbed the napkin and dabbed her shirt with it. By then Ino got up and helped her.

Gaara drowned out what Ino said as he just kept staring at her. She was just so captivating to him. But then she spoke…

"No, no. It's okay. He's just a baby. I needed to change anyways." Sakura smiled. "May I be excused?" Ino grabbed her and took her out of the dining room, leaving Kankuro and Gaara alone with the baby. Gaara was stoic as ever, replaying her soft voice in his head. It's been two years since he heard her voice and it hurt. It hurt him a lot. He had to go two years without that voice? Surely she knew how badly she hurt him. Ignoring him, not even letting him explain what happened. If only she let him explain. Gaara now hid his face in his hands.

"Gaara?..." Kankuro approached his brother's chair and looked down at the redhead, concerning lacing his voice.

"She doesn't know." The redhead didn't mean to say outloud, but you know what? He didn't care anymore.

"Well, she's here now. She's going to be staying for a few weeks. Why not try?" Kankuro tried to comfort his brother. He knew Gaara doesn't like to be touched, but he patted him on the back anyways.

"Will that even work?" Gaara raised his head and looked at Kankuro with those distant sea blue eyes.

"It's better than doing nothing. If you truly care about her, you should show it. Since she's here in person now, it'll be easier to explain." Kankuro advised, he couldn't believe he'd be giving his brother advice. His younger brother, the one who owned the family business and was essentially more mature than Kankuro.

"I suppose you're right." Gaara sighed out and stood up now. "Maybe I should get going so she can sleep. I've scared her enough with my staring."

"Yeah, bro. That was creepy. Like guy-staring-at-middle-schoolers creepy." This made the older brother crack up, Gaara couldn't help but to chuckle a little. Walking his brother outside, Kankuro leaned on the car and gave his brother just a little more advice.

"And Gaara. If she doesn't listen to you at first, just wait for her to come to you. Sometimes, they'll seek out the answer their selves. I've heard it's hard for them to stay away." Kankuro flashed his side smirk before walking back inside to put Kei to bed.

* * *

**xoxoxoxo**

* * *

**A/N::: (( **Chapter 2, yay! Hope you liked reading it. The next chapter is a flashback chapter, explaining how the break-up between Gaara and Sakura happened. There's more to it as opposed to why Matsuri was there. But it's only how Gaara and Sakura saw the break-up. DRAMA BOMB! **))**


	3. Chapter 3: When She Left ( Flashbacks )

After the bubbly blonde finally talked to herself to exhaustion, they went to bed. Sakura was feeling all kinds of emotions running wild through her, she wasn't sure how to address any of the newfound feelings and old feelings that were tearing through her. She just wanted to hug a pillow and cry into, but on the other hand she wanted to punch him in the face and pretend like she doesn't care. But she'd be lying… she does care… she cares too much. As the pinkette turned off the lights in the room she'd be staying in she knew she'd let the thoughts put her to sleep, most of them just being that of the redhead. More specifically when she left, because of what she saw… The flashback of what happened soon flooded her mind as she laid down and a single hot tear ran down her cheek, sliding down slowly…

* * *

_A slight chill in the air let the pinkette know that Summer was at its end and Fall would be among the people of Konoha soon. This made her smile all the more. Fall was her favorite time of the year; it's when her schedule got busier, new fun events came into town, and she could spend more time at home cuddling her boyfriend. She almost rolled her eyes at the thought, biting down on her lip. He was usually on her mind since the day they started dating._

_At first, she was skeptically seeing as he didn't like people around him, but she changed his mind when her once annoying presence to him became welcomed and he let his walls down for her. They've been dating for 2 years now. Today was the exact day that marked 2 years. It was hard for her to grasp how fast time has passed. It felt like just yesterday he asked her out. She knew she would want to stop at their favorite small shop and pick up a present for him._

_By sundown she was walking back with a bag in her hands and a goofy smile plastered along her face. She decided to go to the small shop and bought that small waterfall display people usually bought to keep in their yards, except this waterfall didn't use water, it used sand. Red and black sand would pour over the small rocks and through the cracks. Gaara and her were quite fascinated with the small piece at the store. She thought it'd be the perfect gift. As if on cue, she heard her phone's notification noise, telling her that she had a text. Once she managed to pull her pink phone out of her pocket, she noticed it was from Gaara._

_**I have to show you something, can u get back soon? **_

_**– Gaara**_

_Sakura kind of lifted her eyebrow at the text but made her way home regardless, wondering what it was that he was going to show her. Maybe he was going to take her out on a evening walk like they usually do or treat her to dinner. It was a special night for them after all. Luckily they both had the evening off. But all those assumptions were thrown aside when she opened the door to their small apartment. What she saw caused her to drop his gift and gasp out loud._

_Standing in the doorway of the apartment front door, she had a perfect view of their bedroom from there and the door was wide open, revealing a half-naked Gaara and Matsuri, who only had her bra and panties on. Sakura's legs suddenly felt like jelly as she took in what probably happened between the two. Tears began to blur her vision as she couldn't hear what Gaara said, as he approached her she instantly turned on her heel and ran down the stairs, eager to get away from the apartment. Eager to get away from him. She wanted to be anywhere but here. He followed her down the steps, but failed at catching up to her as she grabbed her keys and got into her car._

_Looking up as the engine came to life, she saw that he stopped at the stairs and merely stared at her from there. He wasn't even approaching the car or looked like he was saying anything; just staring at her. Taking that as a silent confession to what happened, she bit her lip and left._

_**'Matsuri? He told me he only loved me. That he only saw me in a romantic manner. Why was he in bed with her?'** Sakura's thoughts only made her sob louder as she ended up parking in a parking lot to a store. She knew people were staring at her but she didn't care. Her heart was breaking. She swore he said he wouldn't love anybody else. She must've been horribly wrong about him, how long has he been cheating on her anyways? They dated for 2 years, was he cheating the whole time? Oh what'd it matter now?_

_**'Pull yourself together, Sakura! That loser was never good for you, the mysterious type always do end up breaking you.'** Inner Sakura scowled the pinkette._

_**'B-But I love him.' **Sakura sobbed some more._

_**'Well he didn't love you. Now let's go crash with a friend and get it together.'** Inner mentally slapped her and got her back into her right set of mind, for now. Nodding Sakura dialed up Hinata and was thankful the dark haired friend said she could come over. She'd explain when she got there._

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**Gaara's POV**

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The redhead finally managed to unlock the door to his house as he placed his laptop bag on his couch and sulked his way up the stairs to his bedroom. He had a pretty big house for someone who lived alone, but he didn't mind the darkness and loneliness. He didn't want anybody else in his house other than the love that left him broken two years ago. The pink haired doctor herself.

Gaara suddenly grew very tired as he changed into pajama pants and sat down at the edge of his bed, he could feel the memories of what happened between Sakura and him suddenly fill his head but mostly the memory of what tore them apart. To be more exact, who tore them apart. He ran his hands down his face once more before just leaving them cover his face. He remembered it like it was yesterday…

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_He sighed with relief as he entered their apartment, glad the day was finally over and he could end the night with the love of his life and celebrating their two years of being together. It was intended to be a special night indeed, he planned out what exactly would happen from the moment she got home to the moment they fell asleep, in each other's arms. He took his lunch break today to go to the jeweler's and buy a ring. He was planning on proposing to her tonight, to finally tie the knot and call her his for as long as they lived. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, having her in his arms, kissing those pink lips he's grown to love, and hopefully one day raising a family. Sure it took a while for him to warm up to her, but who could blame him? He lost his mother a while ago and his father just left him and his siblings. Everyone would stay away from him and call him a freak at school. Then she came around freshman year in college and they became friends. Before he knew it they were dating. He knew he could never look at other women the way he looks at her, he felt she's the only one that needed his attention because she's the only one who cared enough to get to know him._

**_'I should take a nap before she gets home so I'm more energized for tonight's events.'_ **_Gaara concluded to himself as he stripped his clothes and got into the bed to nap for a bit. He fell asleep after laying there for 20 mins, slowly drifting off into sleep. But his sleeping was short lived before his eyes parted a little when he noticed that someone was climbing into bed with him, with a small smirk he rolled over in the dark room to embrace who he thought to be his soon-to-be fiancée._** "Someone's home early." **_He purred, leaving a small kiss on her neck. Sakura felt different though, her body wasn't as slender as he thought and her hair was rougher than usual against his face when he went to kiss her neck… she didn't even smell the same. The redhead furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before he turned on the light and got up to see who was really next to him._

_Much to his surprise, the light revealed that it wasn't Sakura in bed next to him, it was Matsuri. Gaara jumped back a little,_** "Matsu-" **_before he could finish the front door opened to reveal Sakura staring at them with a sheer look of hurt and horror on her face._

**_'She thinks I've slept with her.'_ **_Gaara's eyes widened with realizing what could be running through his love's mind at the moment.** "**_**No, Sakura. It's not what you're thinking!"**_ he nearly tripped over the bed as he ran to her. She only whimpered and started crying a little as she turned around and ran outside.** 'No! She needs to hear what happened!' **Gaara's thoughts were racing as he ran down the stairs and tried to stop her from fleeing, but he couldn't catch her. He stopped at the stairs as he knew he was half-naked and there was no way to catch up to her. She got in her car and started it up, looking up to stare at him before she pulled away and left._

**_'She's… gone…'_ **Gaara stood there for an hour before he sat down at the bottom of the stairs and stared at where her car used to be_._** _'I lost her…'_ **_He felt a hot drop hit his leg as he looked down to see what it was; he was crying. He couldn't help but let the hot tears run down his face. Tonight was supposed to be their night, the night he was going to change their lives and enter a more exclusive relationship._

**"Oh, she left? That's too bad." **_Came a voice from behind him as she was now dressed and sat down next to him, she ran a hand over his shoulder and drew invisible circles into it with her finger before she leaned on him and whispered in his ear_** "you can have me."**

_Gaara stood up and looked down at the girl who was still sitting down on the step, what was she thinking? He just lost what was precious to him and she was trying to seduce him? The nerve._** "Leave."**

**"Leave? But, you need me." **_Matsuri blushed and pretended to act innocent._

**"I said leave." **_He hissed out as he leaned down and glared at her with a death stare that would kill anyone 10x fold. Matsuri tried to mumble something out, but fell short at his stare and shakingly got up to leave._

_She turned around to say something, but Gaara clenched his fists and glared at her still, she was then gone and he was once again left alone. After a while Gaara walked back into the apartment and looked around for his phone so that he could call her, but the red phone was nowhere to be seen. This only made his eyebrows furrow even more. **'Where's my phone?... I haven't even seen it all day. Probably left it in her car...'** Gaara sighed in defeat._

**_'What will I do?...'_**

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_**xoxoxoxo**_

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**A/N::: (( **Hey everyone. I've been in such a good mood/writing mood lately. So I ended up rewriting 3 chapters from an old story and turned them into something new. So I hope you like the story so far, i'll try to update whenever I can. :) I intend to make this story a pretty long story, so it's not a short one.

Also, I wonder if anyone noticed the hint dropped in this chapter. Suspicious~ Hope you enjoy reading!~ **))**


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